Computer mediated communication: Identity and social interaction in an electronic environment

Social Sciences are increasingly interested in understanding the\r\ncharacteristics of Computer Mediated Communication and its effects on people,\r\ngroups and organisations. The first effect of this influence is the revolution in the\r\nmetaphors used to describe communication. After describing these changes, the\r\npaper outlines a framework for the study of computer-mediated communication\r\nand considers the three psychosocial roots of the process by which interaction\r\nbetween users is constructed – networked reality, virtual conversation and identity\r\nconstruction. The paper also considers the implications of these changes for\r\ncurrent research in communication studies, with particular reference to the role of\r\ncontext, the link between cognition and interaction, and the use of interlocutory\r\nmodels as paradigms of communicative interaction: communication is not only –\r\nor not so much – a transfer of information, but also the activation of a psychosocial\r\nrelationship, the process by which interlocutors co-construct an area of reality.